Different: The Story of the Black Sisters

Different: The Story of the Black Sisters

Chapter Four

Breakthroughs

Andromeda and Bellatrix sat in one of the compartments in the Hogwarts express on September 1^st. They looked over at each other and smiled.

"You think Cissy's adjusting well to staying at Uncle Alphard and Aunt Elladora's?" asked Bellatrix.

"How would you know? I'm the one that's been with her since you left. And yes, I think she's adjusting quite nicely...she's happy that there aren't very many house-elves for one."

"Why does she love cooking and cleaning so much?" demanded Bellatrix in a rude tone.

"I don't know. How should I know? In any event, she says it'll help her when she's married to a pure-blood man and has nothing else to live for but to keep a happy home. Do you know she's read Utopia already?"

"Utopia? I didn't read that until I was twelve!"

"I just recently read it...but you've got to understand, Trixie...she's brilliant! She's got to be the smartest girl of her age! Can't we just abolish the marriage law? I mean...I don't have anybody picked out for me...and well..."

"Don't you know? I picked out your man last year. My darling Rud picked him out. His name's Marcus Flint...and he's going to be in the same year as you. Pureblood with a family history of Slytherin."

"But I'm not going to marry him!" defended Andromeda, "I'm going to meet a man that loves me for who I am and not my blood!"

"What? Don't you remember the pact we made when we were little?"

"But that was a long, long time ago...and I really don't think..."

"That's right, Andromeda, you don't think. At all. You're going to marry Marcus Flint; I've already arranged it with his parents. I'm going to go to see darling Rud...and I'm bringing you with me to meet Marcus."

"I'm not going to go with you! The last thing I want to see is you being all mushy face with 'darling Rud!' she said in a falsetto tone.

"I do not call him darling Rud! And we aren't mushy...we're fierce in our snogging sessions..."

"Too many bad mental images!" said Andromeda, knocking her head with her hands.

"Fine, but you're coming," said Bellatrix, grabbing Andromeda's hand and pulling her out of the compartment.

****

Narcissa Black looked out her window of the desolate British countryside and sighed. She wished she could be with her sisters at fairytale Hogwarts instead of trapped inside this hellish piece of land in the middle of nowhere.

"Narcissa, dear, please come down to lunch! The house-elves have prepared this splendid meal for us! And don't forget to wear your formal clothes!" trilled Aunt Elladora.

Aunt Elladora's mother (also named Elladora) had started two family traditions in her time:

Narcissa thought both traditions were stupid and worthless, but nonetheless had to obey them.

"Narcissa! Are you even listening? Get in your formal attire and come down here now!" she trilled again.

Well, at least Aunt Elladora and Uncle Alphard liked her. Maybe even loved her.

She got dressed into her formal attire (which she wasn't too fond of...but it could be worse), a white, Cinderella type dress; from the hips down: puffy and yellow with beading, and from the top: pink flowers with beading. An expensive diamond necklace littered her white-fair skin. She threw her white-blonde hair up in a half-ponytail.

Narcissa climbed down the creaky wooden stairs, lifting up her dress as she went.

"There's my blonde, my beauty, my Narcissa!" said Elladora. Narcissa hated it when she called her that. "So, I trust you slept well...since you didn't get up until eleven!" said Elladora, laughing haughtily at her own joke.

"I slept well, thank you. And you?"

"Alphard and I were up all night...discussing your future."

"My future? What future might I possibly possess?"

"A hand in marriage to one of the greatest pure-blood families in all of England."

Narcissa politely hid her sarcastic grin as she picked up a piece of dragon meat with her fork.

"Lucius Malfoy has asked for your hand in marriage."

Narcissa choked on her food. "Excuse me?"

"Have you not heard of the Malfoys?"

"I...I have heard of them. It's just...just odd, don't you think? I mean, me, a tiny little girl of nine already betrothed to one of the purest families in all England?"

"I don't think it's that strange. I mean, I knew I was betrothed since I was seven...and your lovely sister Bellatrix was betrothed before she turned nine. It's not that bad, dear Narcissa, you should consider yourself lucky."

"Oh...but I do! I truly do...how much older is he than me?"

"He's seven years older than you."

Narcissa swallowed one last morsel of food and stopped to stare at her aunt.

"What? He's seven years older than me? I won't even meet him until my wedding day!" exclaimed the outraged Narcissa.

"Oh, but dear, you'll learn to love him!"

"I can't!"

"You will or else we'll scratch your name off the family tree!"

She downcast her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to get scratched off the family tree.

"You don't want that, do you, Narcissa?"

"No ma'am," she replied numbly.

"That's exactly what I thought," said Aunt Elladora, an evil grin appearing on her face. "So...what were your plans for this evening?"

"I don't have anything planned," said Narcissa skeptically.

"Good. We're all going to a chamber music concert."

Narcissa groaned inside. She hated chamber music. She would've rather rotted inside her mother's grave then go to one...she would've rather listened to Celestina Warbeck.

"Do I detect a bit of loathing, lovely Narcissa?" asked Elladora, her voice coated over with sugar.

"No ma'am."

"I believe I do. Well, if you don't want to go out with us, than we'll just leave you here with Thurman to watch the house..."

"No, I didn't mean...I mean...I'll go...if it makes you happy..."

"Good, be in your other formal attire by seven!" said Elladora excitedly.

"May I be excused?" asked Narcissa politely.

"Yes, you may."

****

"So...um...Marcus..."

"Call me Marc," he mumbled, twiddling his thumbs as Andromeda attempted to talk to him.

"Right. Marc...what um...what house d'you think you'll be in?"

"Slytherin," he muttered.

"Oh. That's um...interesting. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"No."

"Well, sometimes it's nice to be an only child, you know? I've got two sisters...and they can be a pain sometimes..."

She glanced over at Bellatrix; who was still snogging that idiot Lestrange, and now, Lestrange was underneath her as they furiously snogged on the compartment seat.

"Um...I'm going to go back to my compartment again..."

"Ok."

"D'you mind if I leave?"

"No."

"Okay. Well...it was er...nice to meet you," said Andromeda politely, outstretching her hand to shake his. He looked her in the eye and her smile faded. "Right. Well...bye then..." said Andromeda shyly. On her way out she punched Bellatrix's shoulder.

"Ouch!" said Bellatrix into what's-his-name's mouth.

"What?" he asked her, looking up at his girlfriend's mouth; swollen from kissing.

Bellatrix sat up and turned around, to see a grinning Andromeda. "Damn you," whispered Bellatrix. Andromeda shrugged.

"Love you too, sis."

****

Armand Stone, a tall thin man with a brunette moustache led the first years across the lake and into the Great Hall in a single-file line. He read the rules about the Sorting Hat, and called the first name...

"Black, Andromeda!" he shouted clearly. Timidly, Andromeda walked towards the patched hat as Professor Stone dropped it on her head.

"Ah...yet another Black...hmm...quite embarrassing to your family, aren't you? Not witty or cunning....or sly for that matter...this one's going to disappoint your dear sister..." said the hat in her ear.

Andromeda was startled. 'Please put me in Slytherin! Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh...'

"No, no, definitely not...you are definitely not a Slytherin. Hmmm...Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw?"

'Not Hufflepuff...oh goodness no! Please don't put me in Hufflepuff...' thought Andromeda desperately.

"Not Hufflepuff? Well, I can sure see a smart girl like you saying no to that...RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.

Andromeda was flooded with relief. She heard whispers around her...no applause...and the Slytherin table glared at her as she walked past it to the Ravenclaw one.

A boy near her motioned her to take a seat next to him. "Thanks," muttered Andromeda.

"No problem."

The feast commenced after Zurich, Gerard had been sorted.

"I'm Ted by the way, Ted Tonks. And I know who you are," said Ted, introducing himself to Andromeda.

"Oh really," said Andromeda sourly, "enlighten me."

"Andromeda Desdemona Black. Middle child. Two siblings, Bellatrix Desdemona and Narcissa Desdemona Black. Your mother and father's names are Flavian and Desdemona Black; but Flavian went mad and killed your mother when you were just eight."

"How the hell do you know about that?" demanded Andromeda, looking him squarely in the eye. He flushed.

"I read up on the Black family when I found out you'd be attending Hogwarts this year."

"So, you're not a first year?"

He laughed; a nice warm chuckle. "No, I'm a second year."

Andromeda blushed. "Oh," she said. "I'd like it if you could call me Andie. Andromeda's just too formal for my taste," she said shyly.

"Okay, Andie it is then," he said, warmly smiling.

****

Narcissa sat at the end of her bed late at night after the chamber concert. Everything had gone wrong. Why did everything in her life have to be so screwed up?

They'd done this to her. She was only nine years old after all! Why should she have to meet him?

Lucius Malfoy and his parents had met them at the chamber music concert. He was alright, 'simply dashing' from Aunt Elladora's point of view. He wasn't simply dashing. Not to her at least. She had a terrible flashback in her mind...

"Oh, look who it is Narcissa! Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy and your betrothed, Lucius! What a happy coincidence!" exclaimed Elladora.

"What a pleasant...surprise. It's very good to meet you, Lady Narcissa," drawled Lucius. Narcissa could tell he was trying to hide back laughter as he kissed her hand.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Lord Malfoy," replied Narcissa, curtseying.

"Well, we are about to take our seats...where are you all sitting?" asked Alphard.

"It appears we have the seats right next to each other! How lovely..." said Mrs. Malfoy, glaring at Narcissa. "And it seems that Lucius and Narcissa will be seated next to each other! Imagine that! I guess the bloke at the ticket office knows how to place his purebloods..."

The six of them proceeded to their reserved box.

During the show, Lucius grabbed Narcissa's hand and started kissing it, she pulled it away. He grew angry with her, and pinched her shoulder with his fingers hard enough to make it bleed. She wanted to cry out, but knew that if she did...nobody would believe her story.

As if her shoulder wasn't bad enough...he started caressing her face harshly; making her eyes fill with tears.

Nobody knew and nobody would know about it ever...and she had a sickening feeling that as she got older, he would treat her worse and worse...and worse...and worse...

She ended the flashback as she flopped down on her bed in her pajamas. Narcissa buried her face into the pillow and cried herself to sleep.

And then she realized that she was going to be different. She realized that being a pureblood was a responsibility that nobody should be forced to make.

But she was different...she was a Black.

****

It was a sunny day in January when Andie Black decided to roam the grounds and explore it a bit. She nearly walked out of the large front doors...

"Good morning," said Ted Tonks politely.

"Morning," mumbled Andie.

"I was wondering when you were going to be up! I just went for a jog across the grounds at seven."

"They let you do that?" asked Andie.

"Uh-huh. I just take out my jogging shorts, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes and go jogging. It's not that hard, you know. You want to come with me tomorrow?"

"Well...it sounds nice and all...but I'm not really a morning person, Ted."

His face fell, and brightened back up again. "Oh, right...well..."

"D'you want to go swimming?" asked Andie, staring out to the frozen lake.

"Er...now? The lake's frozen...isn't it?"

"No...I meant...never mind..."

"Well...it's sort of cold in January...if you know what I mean...just chilly enough for a crisp jog in the morning...but...yeah. Okay. Right. Um...I just had an idea! Have you ever been ice-skating?"

"What's ice-skating? It sounds dangerous..."asked Andie skeptically.

"Oh...we could do it this afternoon."

"Do what?"

"Ice-skating."

"Oh, right. So, what is this, again?"

"Well, it's a muggle sport actually. Very popular in America. Anyways...it's like wearing boots, but on the bottom are long, thin pieces of medal. It's like...walking or gliding on ice...but it's much more fun. I could ask my brother, Frank, to transfigure a pair of your shoes into ice-skates."

"Sounds good, then. So, will you just wait in the common room? Or should I bring my shoes out or..."

"Well, you should probably see if you've got some jeans or something lying around..."

"Oh, right..."

"And a sweater, because it'll be cold outside..."

"Yes, I knew that. Okay. So I'll meet you in the common room?"

"Yeah at about noon, okay?"

"Okay."

"Right..."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Ice-skating (as Andie learned) was much harder than it looked. As she tottered onto the ice, she watched Ted glide around in his hockey (whatever hockey was) skates. He laughed as he watched her.

"Having fun?" he asked, trying to hide a chuckle.

"Not yet, but I'm sure you'll brighten things up for me..."

"Here," he said, gliding over to her, "link your arm in mine. Good, now pretend you are marching."

Andie marched with ease.

"Good, now rub your left skate up against the ice and shift your weight over to the other side, like this," he said gently, demonstrating.

"I've got it!" shouted Andie triumphantly.

"Yes, you've got it..."

"I did it! I'm ice-skating..." she said, unlinking her arm from Ted's. She skated all the way around the rink with her hands behind her head.

"Want to learn some tricks?" asked Ted as he watched Andie freeze.

"Umm...sure..." she replied timidly.

"Okay...so...pick up some speed with each foot..."

"Like this?"

"Right. And then, when you pick up a good amount and you feel comfortable, pick up your weaker foot and stretch it out behind you..."

He didn't need to say anything else, just stood in the middle of the rink and watched her go, hoping to high heaven that she wouldn't fall and hurt herself...it'd be all his fault if she did.

Ted's eyes widened. Her leg was stretched out behind her, forming a perfect 'l' shape. She attempted to lift her leg up by her skate...and...succeeded? He couldn't believe his eyes. Nobody was able to do that the first time out!

Andie released her leg slowly and stopped. "What're you staring at?" she questioned, taking short breaths from the thrill, he watched her grin.

"What do you mean, 'what am I staring at'? Andie, do you even know what you just did?"

"Why? Was that like, some ice-skating break-through or something?" asked Andie, laughing.

"Well...nobody's ever done that first time out. Not even my mum...and she almost went to the Olympics."

"Really? I liked it, the feeling...it just felt right to do that...so I just...did it..."

"And that was really amazing."

"Thanks. I think we'll have to come out here next Saturday. Know any good jumps?" she asked him, laughing as they walked off the ice and tore their skates off.

"Well, there's this one jump that no woman's been able to do yet..."